Feedforward amplifier and control method thereof

ABSTRACT

In a feedforward amplifier ( 200 ) including a signal cancellation circuit ( 10 ) and a distortion eliminating circuit ( 20 ), a harmonic reaction amplifier ( 130 ) is used as a main amplifier of the signal cancellation circuit. A controller ( 43 ) obtains an adjacent channel leakage power ratio (ACLR) and a power efficiency from an output of the feedforward amplifier ( 200 ) and controls the gate bias voltages of two transistors ( 33 A and  33 B) of the harmonic reaction amplifier ( 130 ) to maximize the power efficiency under the condition that the ACLR is less than or equal to a reference value.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a highly efficient feedforwardamplifier and a control method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

In order to provide coverage areas to keep up with the rapid spread ofmobile communications in these years, many base station equipment needto be installed. Some base station equipment need to be installed in thesame location of the existing base station for installation reasons. Onthe other hand, there is a demand for reduction of power consumption ofbase station equipment. In these circumstances, there is a growing needfor miniaturization and lower power consumption of base stationequipment. Base station equipment typically includes devices such asmodulator and demodulator, transmitter amplifier, heatsinks, and variouscontrollers. Since the part in the base station equipment that consumesthe majority of the power is the transmitter amplifier, there has been afocus of attention in regard to reduction of power consumption of thetransmitter amplifier.

The transmitter amplifier in the base station equipment uses alinearization technique because of (1) the need for simultaneousamplification of multiple carriers and (2) the need for meeting standardvalues such as an adjacent channel leakage power required in a mobilecommunication standard. A feedforward amplifier is known as an amplifieremploying linearization technique. FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration ofa feedforward amplifier. The feedforward amplifier 100 includes a signalcancellation circuit 10 and a distortion eliminating circuit 20(Non-patent literature 1).

Non-patent literature 1: N. Pothecary, Feedforward linear poweramplifiers, Artech House, 1999.

The signal cancellation circuit 10 includes a divider 11 whichdistributes a signal input in the feedforward amplifier 100 into twopaths, a vector adjuster 12, a main amplifier 13, a delay line 14, and acombiner/divider 15. A path including the vector adjuster 12 and themain amplifier 13 is a main amplifier path P_(MA) and a path includingthe delay line 14 is a linear transfer path P_(LT). The combiner/divider15 is typically implemented by a directional coupler and has a degree ofcoupling equivalent to the gain of the main amplifier path P_(MA).

The main amplifier 13 amplifies an output signal from the vectoradjuster 12. The combiner/divider 15 combines an output signal (here, asignal consisting of a main wave component which is an input signal ofthe feedforward amplifier and a distortion component generated by themain amplifier) from the main amplifier path P_(MA) and an output signalfrom the linear transfer path P_(LT). The vector adjuster 12 adjusts theamplitude and phase of an input signal of the main amplifier 13 so thatthe amount of the distortion component output to a distortion injectionpath P_(DI) described below becomes sufficiently large (the adjustmentis referred to as loop adjustment of the signal cancellation circuit10). A signal extracting unit and a controller required for loopadjustment of the signal cancellation circuit 10 are not shown. Thedistortion component is an input signal of the distortion injection pathP_(DI). The combiner/divider 15 outputs the main wave component and thedistortion component to the other path of the distortion eliminatingcircuit 20 (the main amplifier output transfer path P_(MT), which willbe described later).

The distortion eliminating circuit 20 includes a delay line 21, a vectoradjuster 22, an auxiliary amplifier 23, and a power combiner 24. A pathincluding the delay line 21 is a main amplifier output transfer pathP_(MT) and a path including the vector adjuster 22 and the auxiliaryamplifier 23 is a distortion injection path P_(DI). The vector adjuster22 adjusts the amplitude and phase of the distortion component input inthe distortion injection path P_(DI) so that the adjacent channelleakage power ratio (ACLR) of an output signal of the power combiner 24,which will be described later, becomes sufficiently small (theadjustment is referred to as loop adjustment of the distortioneliminating circuit 20). A signal extracting unit and a controllerrequired for the loop adjustment of the distortion eliminating circuit20 are not shown. The auxiliary amplifier 23 amplifies an output signalof the vector adjuster 22. The power combiner 24 combines an outputsignal of the main amplifier output transfer path P_(MT) and an outputsignal of the distortion injection path P_(DI) with equal amplitudes,opposite phases, and equal delays. As a result, the distortion componentis eliminated and the main wave component is output from the feedforwardamplifier 100.

In this way, the signal cancellation circuit 10 detects the distortioncomponent generated by the main amplifier 13 and the distortioneliminating circuit 20 injects the detected distortion component intothe output signal of the main amplifier 13, with equal amplitudes,opposite phases, and equal delays. By this operation, the feedforwardamplifier 100 compensates for the distortion component generated by themain amplifier 13.

If there is no other active circuit in the rest of the feedforwardamplifier 100, power consumption of the feedforward amplifier 100 isdetermined by the power consumption of the main amplifier 13 and theauxiliary amplifier 23 which are active circuits. The power efficiencyof the feedforward amplifier is the ratio between the output power andpower consumption of the feedforward amplifier.

A method for increasing the power efficiency of the feedforwardamplifier 100 is to reduce the power consumption of the active circuitsin the feedforward amplifier 100 while maintaining linearity. However,reduction of power consumptions of the main amplifier 13 and theauxiliary amplifier 23 reduces a current supplied to each amplifyingelement and therefore increases distortion components generated by theamplifying elements. There is a trade-off between reduction of powerconsumption and distortion generated.

If the power consumption of the auxiliary amplifier 23 is reduced, thedistortion component detected by the signal cancellation circuit 10 isfurther distorted in the auxiliary amplifier 23 and consequently adistortion component that differs from the distortion component to beeliminated is generated. As a result, the distortion component generatedby the main amplifier 13 cannot sufficiently be eliminated. Theauxiliary amplifier 23 has to linearly amplify the distortion componentdetected by the signal cancellation circuit 10. Therefore, usually aClass A amplifier is used as the auxiliary amplifier 23 and its powerconsumption cannot significantly be reduced.

Main amplifiers to which a high-efficiency amplification technique isapplied have been proposed in order to improve main amplifier powerefficiency. One of such main amplifiers is a Doherty amplifier (Patentliterature 1). The Doherty amplifier includes a carrier amplifier and apeak amplifier (Non-patent literature 2). When the input power of theDoherty amplifier exceeds a certain value, the peak amplifier operatesand an output from the peak amplifier is combined with an output fromthe carrier amplifier. The Doherty amplifier can achieve high powerefficiency because the carrier amplifier is operating in saturation inan input power region in which the peak amplifier operates. It has beenreported that the power efficiency of a 2-GHz-band feedforward amplifierfor W-CDMA can be improved by 2% with the Doherty amplifier used as itsmain amplifier (Non-patent literature 3).

Patent literature 1: U.S. Pat. No. 6,320,464

Non-patent literature 2: S. C. Cripps, Advanced Techniques in RF PowerAmplifier Design, Artech House, 2002.

Non-patent literature 3: K-J. Cho, J-H, Kim, and S. P. Stapleton, “Ahighly efficient Doherty feedforward linear power amplifier for W-CDMAbase-station applications”, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory andTechniques, Vol. 53, No. 1, January 2005.

The nonlinear characteristic of the Doherty amplifier is generated ondifferent principles in a region in which the peak amplifier operatesand a region in which the peak amplifier does not operate. In the regionin which the peak amplifier does not operate, the nonlinearcharacteristic of the Doherty amplifier is that of the carrieramplifier. In the region in which the peak amplifier operates, thenonlinear characteristic of the Doherty amplifier is the combination ofthat of the carrier amplifier and the peak amplifier. The Dohertyamplifier is capable of achieving high power efficiency in the region inwhich the peak amplifier operates. However, the nonlinear characteristicof the Doherty amplifier is complicated compared with that of thecarrier amplifier alone.

A feedforward amplifier that uses the Doherty amplifier as its mainamplifier should compensate for the complicated nonlinear characteristicof the Doherty amplifier. If distortion of the feedforward amplifier isideally compensated for, all distortion components contained in anoutput signal of the Doherty amplifier are eliminated. However, actualfeedforward amplifiers cannot completely eliminate distortion componentsgenerated by the main amplifier. This is because adjustments forachieving equal amplitudes, opposite phases, and equal delays in thesignal cancellation circuit and the distortion eliminating circuit havelimitations and because the frequency characteristics of the signalcancellation circuit and distortion eliminating circuit do notcompletely compensate for the frequency characteristic of thecomplicated nonlinearity generated by the Doherty amplifier. Therefore,there is a problem that while a high power efficiency can be achieved ina situation in which the peak amplifier operates, distortion cannotsufficiently be compensated for due to the complicated nonlinearcharacteristic. If the Doherty amplifier is used as the main amplifierin order that the ACLR may be less than or equal to a specificationvalue specified in a radio communications standard, the power efficiencycannot be improved because an output back-off of 5 dB or so is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a feedforward amplifiercapable of achieving high power efficiency without generatingcomplicated nonlinear distortion and a method for controlling thefeedforward amplifier in such way.

A feedforward amplifier according to the present embodiment includes: adivider distributing an input signal into a main amplifier path and alinear transfer path, the main amplifier path including a mainamplifier; a combiner/divider combining an output signal of the mainamplifier path and an output signal of the liner transfer path togenerate a signal input to a main amplifier output transfer path and asignal input to a distortion injection path including an auxiliaryamplifier; and a power combiner combining an output signal of the mainamplifier output transfer path and an output signal of the distortioninjection path and thereby outputting an output signal; wherein the mainamplifier is a harmonic reaction amplifier; the feedforward amplifierfurther includes: a first directional coupler extracting a part of theoutput signal of the power combiner; and a controller controlling anoperating point of the harmonic reaction amplifier on the basis of thesignal extracted by the first directional coupler.

According to the present invention, there is provided a method forcontrolling feedforward amplifier including: a divider distributing aninput signal into a main amplifier path and a linear transfer path, themain amplifier path including a harmonic reaction amplifier as a mainamplifier; a combiner/divider combining an output signal of the mainamplifier path and an output signal of the linear transfer path togenerate a signal input to a main amplifier output transfer path and asignal input to a distortion injection path including an auxiliaryamplifier; a power combiner combining an output signal of the mainamplifier output transfer path and an output signal of the distortioninjection path and thereby outputting an output signal; a firstdirectional coupler extracting a part of the output signal of the powercombiner; and a controller controlling an operating point of theharmonic reaction amplifier on the basis of the signal extracted by thefirst directional coupler; the harmonic reaction amplifier including: asecond divider dividing a signal input in the harmonic reactionamplifier into two; a first transistor having a gate to which one of thetwo signals distributed is provided and amplifying power; a secondtransistor having a gate to which the other of the two signalsdistributed is provided and amplifying power; a second-order harmonictermination circuit terminating second harmonics between outputs of thefirst and second transistors; a second power combiner combining thepowers of the two second-harmonic terminated signals to generate anoutput of the harmonic reaction amplifier; and two gate bias settingcircuits setting a gate bias voltage of the first transistor and a gatebias voltage of the second transistor in accordance with control by thecontroller; the control method including the step of: detecting a mainwave component which is the input signal of the feedforward amplifierand an out-of-band distortion component generated by the main amplifierfrom the output signal of the feedforward amplifier and alternatelycontrolling gate bias voltages of the first and second transistors ofthe harmonic reaction amplifier to maximize power efficiency of thefeedforward amplifier under the condition that an ACLR calculated fromthe main wave component and the out-of-band distortion component is lessthan or equal to a predetermined reference value.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION

The configuration and the control method of the feedforward amplifiercan implement a highly efficient feedforward amplifier withoutgenerating complicated nonlinear distortion because an operating pointof the harmonic reaction amplifier used as the main amplifier iscontrolled on the basis of the output of the feedforward amplifier.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventionalfeedforward amplifier;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a feedforwardamplifier according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a harmonicreaction amplifier used in embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a gate biassetting circuit using a current feedback transistor circuit;

FIG. 4B is a diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a gate biassetting circuit using a DC-DC converter;

FIG. 4C is a diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a gate biassetting circuit using resistors for a voltage divide;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of adetector;

FIG. 6A is a graph showing an exemplary output spectrum of thefeedforward amplifier;

FIG. 6B is a graph showing an exemplary spectrum converted into abaseband;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing another exemplary configuration of thedetector;

FIG. 8A is a flowchart showing an outline of an exemplary procedure forsetting a gate bias voltage;

FIG. 8B is a flowchart showing details of a procedure for searching fora gate bias voltage set value;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of a feedforwardamplifier according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of control of the feedforwardamplifier in the second embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is a graph showing measurements of power efficiency and ACLR ofthe feedforward amplifier in the second embodiment;

FIG. 13A is a graph showing measurements of ACLR versus output power ofthe feedforward amplifier in the second embodiment; and

FIG. 13B is a graph showing the power efficiency of the feedforwardamplifier in the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION First Embodiment

FIG. 2 shows a feedforward amplifier 200 of a first embodiment in thepresent invention. The components of the feedforward amplifier 200 thatcorrespond to the components of the conventional feedforward amplifier100 shown in FIG. 1 are labeled with the same reference numerals used inFIG. 1. Features of the feedforward amplifier 200 are that a HarmonicReaction Amplifier (HRA) 130 is used as its main amplifier and that theoperating point of the HRA 130 is controlled so that the maximum powerefficiency of the feedforward amplifier 200 is achieved. For the purposeof the control, there are provided a directional coupler 41 whichextracts a part of an output from the feedforward amplifier 200, adetector 42 which detects a main wave component and an out-of-banddistortion component contained in the extracted signal, a powermeasuring part 44 which measures the output power of the feedforwardamplifier 200 and supply power to the feedforward amplifier 200, and acontroller 43 which controls the operating point of the HRA 130 tomaximize the power efficiency of the feedforward amplifier 200 on thebasis of the output from the detector 42 and the measurements by thepower measuring part 44.

Like the conventional feedforward amplifier shown in FIG. 1, thefeedforward amplifier 200 includes a divider 11 which evenly distributesan input signal into a main amplifier path P_(MA) and a linear transferpath P_(LT), a combiner/divider 15 which combines an output signal ofthe main amplifier path P_(MA) and an output signal of the lineartransfer path P_(LT) and outputs a main wave component and a distortioncomponent that was generated by the main amplifier 130 to a mainamplifier output transfer path P_(MT) and the distortion component tothe distortion injection path P_(DI), and a power combiner 24 thatcombines an output signal of the main amplifier output transfer pathP_(MT) and an output signal of the distortion injection path P_(DI). Avector adjuster 12 including a variable attenuator 12A and a variablephase shifter 12B, a preamplifier 13P, and the HRA 130 are provided inthe main amplifier path P_(MA). The linear transfer path P_(LT) and themain amplifier output transfer path P_(MT) are delay lines 14 and 21,respectively. A vector adjuster 22 including a variable attenuator 22Aand a variable phase shifter 22B, a preamplifier 23P, and an auxiliaryamplifier 23 are provided in the distortion injection path P_(DI).

As shown in FIG. 3, the HRA 130 as the main amplifier includes a divider31 which evenly divides and distributes a signal input in the HRA 130into two paths, two input matching circuits 32A and 32B, two gate biassetting circuits 37A and 37B, two transistors (for example, microwavetransistors in this embodiment) 33A and 33B, two output matchingcircuits 34A and 34B, two drain bias setting circuits 38A and 38B, asecond-order harmonic termination circuit 35 which terminates secondharmonics between the outputs of the two output matching circuits 34Aand 34B, and a power combiner 36 which combines signals output from thetwo output matching circuits 34A and 34B.

The input matching circuits 32A and 32B and the output matching circuits34A and 34B are configured in such a manner that each of the matchingcircuits uses a microstrip line to perform impedance matching at adesign frequency. The gate bias setting circuits 37A and 37B havecontrol terminals T_(GCA) and T_(GCB), respectively, to which a controlsignal is provided from the controller 43, and provide specified gatebias voltages V_(GB1) and V_(GB2) to the gates of transistors 33A and33B, respectively, in accordance with the control signal from thecontroller 43. The drain bias setting circuits 38A and 38B also havecontrol terminals T_(DCA) and T_(DCB) to which the control signal isprovided from the controller 43, and provide specified drain biasvoltages to the drains of the transistors 33A and 33B in accordance withthe control signal from the controller 43. The configuration of the HRA,excluding the gate bias setting circuits 37A and 37B and the drain biassetting circuits 38A and 38B, is described in Japanese PatentApplication Laid-Open No. 63-153904, for example.

The provision of the second-order harmonic termination circuit 35 thatterminates second harmonic waves of signals output from the outputmatching circuits 34A and 34B allows the HRA 130 to function as aparallel amplifier with Class F operation (Conditions for Class Foperation are that even harmonics are terminated and odd harmonics areopen and, in the first embodiment, second harmonic termination isimplemented) or Class J operation. In general, higher power efficienciescan be achieved by increasing the order of termination and open in theClass F operation conditions. However, second harmonic terminationsuffices in view of the ease of circuit configuration and the degree ofefficiency improvement. In addition, amplification of high-orderharmonics with a sufficient gain has limitations due to the frequencycharacteristics of the transistors 33A and 33B. For these practicalreasons, the HRA 130 in the first embodiment includes a circuit thatterminates second harmonics.

The HRA 130 combines the main wave components in the same phase andcombines the distortion components without taking into considerationtheir phases and amplitudes. This operation can compensate for thedistortion components by 3 dB with respect to the main wave components.In addition, the HRA 130 achieves a maximum drain efficiency of greaterthan 80%. Since the HRA 130 has such high maximum drain efficiency andis capable of compensating for distortion components, the HRA 130 issuitable as the main amplifier of the feedforward amplifier.

Unlike the bias setting conditions of the carrier amplifier and the peakamplifier of the Doherty amplifier, approximately equal bias voltagesare set for the two transistors 33A and 33B in the HRA 130. Accordingly,the two transistors 33A and 33B have nearly identical operating pointsand do not generate complicated nonlinear characteristics that would beclearly generated when the peak amplifier of the Doherty amplifieroperates. The HRA 130 improves the power efficiency of the feedforwardamplifier 200 while easing the nonlinear characteristic of thefeedforward amplifier 200.

The gate bias voltages in the HRA 130 are set so that power efficiencyis increased and out-of-band distortion components are reduced. Inpush-pull amplifiers and balanced amplifiers in general, the two gatebias voltages are set to the same voltage. The HRA 130 has two amplifiesin parallel with each other. The characteristics of the amplifiers arenot exactly identical because of differences between individualtransistors and differences in adjustment of the individual amplifies.By fine adjustment of the gate bias voltages, out-of-band distortioncomponents and power efficiency of the HRA 130 can be set optimally fromthe viewpoint of the feedforward amplifier 200. However, out-of-banddistortion components and power efficiency of the HRA 130 itself cannotalways be set optimally. Therefore, by monitoring out-of-bounddistortion components of an output of the feedforward amplifier 200 andthe power consumption of the feedforward amplifier 200, the gate biasvoltages are controlled so as to increase the power efficiency whilemaintaining out-of-band distortion components at a level specified instandards.

Operation of the HRA 130 can be further adjusted by controlling thedrain bias voltages. In general, by controlling drain bias voltages,efficient amplification can be achieved while maintaining linearity. Bycombining gate bias voltage control and drain bias voltage control, thepower efficiency and linearity of the HRA 130 can be improved whilemaintaining advantages of both.

The gate bias setting circuits 37A and 37B have the same configuration.Exemplary configurations are shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C. FIG. 4Ashows an example in which a well-known current feedback circuitincluding a transistor 37T and resistors 37R1 to 37R4 is used as thegate bias setting circuit 37A, 37B. A control voltage is provided fromthe controller 43 to a gate bias control terminal T_(GC) (T_(GCA),T_(GCB)) and a source voltage which is determined in response to thecontrol voltage is provided from a terminal T_(S) to the gate of thetransistor 33A, 33B as a gate bias voltage V_(GB) (V_(GB1), V_(GB2)).FIG. 4B shows an example in which a DC-DC converter 37C is used as thegate bias setting circuit 37A, 37B. A control voltage provided from thecontroller 43 to the terminal T_(GC) (T_(GCA), T_(GCB)) is converted bythe DC-DC converter 37C to a corresponding gate bias voltage V_(GB)(V_(GB1), V_(GB2)) and the gate bias voltage V_(GB) is output from theterminal T_(S). In the configuration shown in FIG. 4C, one of voltagesinto which a voltage is divided by multiple resistances 37R1, 37R2, 37R3connected in series is selected by a switch 37S in accordance with acontrol voltage provided to the gate bias control terminal T_(GC)(T_(GCA), T_(GCB)) and is output from the terminal T_(S) as the gatebias voltage V_(GB) (V_(GB1), V_(GB2)). In this way, the gate biassetting circuits 37A and 37B control only voltage and therefore can beconfigured simply as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C. In the examples in FIGS.4A and 4B, the gate bias voltage V_(GB) can be continuously controlledusing the control voltage from the controller 43. In the example in FIG.4C, the gate bias voltage V_(GB) can be discretely controlled by usingthe control voltage from the controller 43.

The drain bias setting circuits 38A and 38B can use the sameconfiguration as that of the gate bias setting circuits 37A, 37B. Inthis case, the term “gate bias” used in the description of the gate biassetting circuits 37A and 37B can be simply replaced with the term “drainbias”.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the output signal of the power combiner 24 isoutput through the directional coupler 41 as an output of thefeedforward amplifier. A part of the power is branched by thedirectional coupler 41 to the detector 42. The detector 42 detects amain wave component and an out-of-band distortion component.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary configuration of the detector 42. A signalextracted by the directional coupler 41 is converted by a frequencyconverter 42A to a baseband signal. The frequency converter 42A includesa mixer 42A1 and a local oscillator 42A2, for example. A low-pass filter42B removes aliasing from the baseband signal. An analog-digitalconverter 42C digitizes the output signal of the low-pass filter 42B ata sampling frequency fs. A 3-way distribution circuit 42X divides thedigital signal into three. A main wave component from the 3-waydistribution circuit 42X is extracted by a digital low-pass filter 42D.Upper and lower band distortion components AC_(U) and AC_(L) from the3-way distribution circuit 42X are extracted by digital band-passfilters 42E and 42F, respectively. The passband widths BP_(U) and BP_(L)of the digital band-pass filters 42E and 42F are determined by takinginto consideration the out-of-band attenuation characteristics of thefilters so that out-of-band distortion components centered on fw andfs−fw (where fw is a frequency equivalent to the bandwidth of the mainwave component W_(T)), respectively, can be adequately detected.

FIG. 6A shows an exemplary spectrum of an input signal of the frequencyconverter 42A shown in FIG. 5A. FIG. 6B shows an exemplary spectrum ofan output from the A-D converter 42C. As shown in FIG. 6A, the upper andlower out-of-band distortion components AC_(U) and AC_(L) lie adjacentto the upper and lower sides of the main wave component W_(T) with acarrier frequency fc as a center frequency. The upper and lowerout-of-band distortion components AC_(U) and AC_(L) need to be detectedwithout being suppressed by the main wave component W_(T). However, itis difficult to implement a filter that has such a steep frequencycharacteristic that allows upper and lower out-of-band distortioncomponents AC_(U) and AC_(L) shown in FIG. 6A in a microwave-band to beextracted separately from the main wave component W_(T). Therefore, thefrequency converter 42A is used to convert the microwave-band signalextracted by the directional coupler 41 to a baseband in the exampleshown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 6B shows an exemplary spectrum of a digitized baseband signal. Theexemplary spectrum can be obtained by, first, converting an outputsignal of the low-pass filter 42B to a digital baseband signal by theanalog-digital converter 42C at a sampling frequency fs and, next,Fourier-transforming the digital baseband signal. The upper and lowerout-of-band distortion components AC_(U) and AC_(L) to be extracted areextracted by the digital band-pass filters 42E and 42F having passbandsBP_(U) and BP_(L), respectively. The main wave component W_(T) isextracted by the digital low-pass filter 42D having a passband LP_(T).Outputs from the digital filters 42D, 42E, and 42F are provided to thecontroller 43, where the power of each of the components detected iscalculated. The digital filters 42D, 42E, and 42F can be implemented byFIR filters, for example. Instead of using the digital filters 42D, 42E,and 42F, the output signal of the analog-digital converter 42C may beFourier-transformed to extract frequency components corresponding to theupper and lower distortion and main wave components.

FIG. 7 shows another exemplary configuration of the detector 42. Thedetector 42 in the example includes an IF frequency converter 42Aaincluding a mixer 42A1 a and a local oscillator 42A2 a, narrowband-passfilters 42Da, 42Ea, and 42Fa, and power detectors 42Q 42H, and 42I. TheIF converter 42Aa converts a microwave-band signal extracted by thedirectional coupler 41 to an IF band (for example 15 MHz) with a centerfrequency fi. The 3-way distribution circuit 42X divides the convertedIF-band signal into three. The signals output from the 3-waydistribution circuit 42X are input in the narrowband-pass filters 42Da,42Ea, and 42Fa, respectively, having frequency characteristics thatenable detection of the main wave component W_(T) and upper and lowerout-of-band distortion components AC_(U) and AC_(L). For example, thenarrowband-pass filter 42Ea extracts an upper out-of-band distortioncomponent centered on a frequency of fi+fw and the narrowband-passfilter 42Fa extracts a lower out-of-band distortion component centeredon a frequency fi−fw, where fw is the frequency equivalent to thebandwidth of a main wave component W_(T). The narrowband-pass filter42Da extracts a main wave component centered on frequency fi. Thenarrowband-pass filters 42Da, 42Ea, and 42Fa can be implemented by SAWfilters or ceramic filters. Outputs from the narrowband-pass filters42Da, 42Ea, and 42Fa are provided to the power detectors 42Q 42H, and42I. The power detectors 42Q 42H, and 42I measure the power of the mainwave component and upper and lower out-of-band distortion components,respectively. The power detectors 42G, 42H, and 42I may be implementedby ICs such as log amplifiers.

The power consumption of the entire feedforward amplifier (including thecontroller 43, preamplifiers 13P and 23P, HRA 130, auxiliary amplifier23, and other components) can be obtained by the power measuring part 44measuring currents supplied to the circuits of the feedforwardamplifier. For example, in the case of alternate-current supply, thepower measuring part 44 can use a clamp meter to measure the current. Inthe case of direct-current supply, the power measuring part 44 can use ashunt resistance (of the order of 1 milliohm) provided at the feedingpoint for each circuit to measure the value of current. The powermeasuring part 44 multiplies the measured current values by a knownvoltage value to obtain the supply power, that is, power consumption, ofthe entire feedforward amplifier. The power measuring part 44 alsomeasures the output power of the feedforward amplifier. The results ofmeasurements by the power measuring part 44 are sent to the controller43.

The controller 43 performs predetermined control based on the power ofthe main wave component and the powers of the upper and lowerout-of-band distortion components detected by the detector 42 and theoutput power and power consumption of the entire feedforward amplifiermeasured by the power measuring part 44. That is, the controller 43controls the gate bias voltages in the HRA 130 so as to maximize thepower efficiency of the feedforward amplifier while maintaining theratio between the power of each of the upper and lower out-of-banddistortion components and the power of the main wave component, that is,ACLR, at a predetermined value or below. The controller can beimplemented by a microprocessor, for example.

FIG. 8A shows a flowchart outlining HRA 130 gate bias voltage controlperformed by the controller 43 after completion of loop adjustments ofthe signal cancellation circuit 10 and the distortion eliminatingcircuit 20. In the first embodiment, loop adjustment of the signalcancellation circuit 10 (step S1) and loop adjustment of the distortioneliminating circuit 20 (step S2) are performed. Each of the vectoradjusters 12 and 22 performs the loop adjustment until the power of theout-of-band distortion component detected by the detector 42 becomes (1)a minimum value, or (2) less than or equal to a standard value specifiedby a standards, or (3) less than or equal to a design value determinedby taking into consideration factors such as an operating margin, whilethe gate and drain bias voltages of the HRA 130 are set at standardvalues. The method for the adjustment is the same as a conventionaltechnique and therefore the description thereof will be omitted. Thecontroller 43 changes a control voltage being provided to the controlterminal T_(GCA) of the gate bias setting circuit 37A (thereby changingthe gate bias voltage V_(GB1) at the transistor 33A) in the HRA 130 todetermine a gate bias voltage V_(GB1) that maximizes the powerefficiency of the feedforward amplifier 200 under the condition that theACLR of an output from the feedforward amplifier 200 is less than orequal to a standard value (step S31). Then, the controller 43 changes acontrol voltage being provided to the control terminal T_(GCB) of thegate bias setting circuit 37B (thereby changing the gate bias voltageV_(CB2) at the transistor 33B) to determine a gate bias voltage V_(BG2)that maximizes the power efficiency of the feedforward amplifier 200under the condition that the ACLR of the output from the feedforwardamplifier 200 is less than or equal to the standard value (step S32).Since the condition obtained at step S31 is not necessarily kept underthe influence of the bias control at step S32, control is performed tocause steps S31 and S32 to be repeated until the power efficiency of thefeedforward amplifier 200 is maximized under the condition that the ACLRis less than or equal to the standard value (step S33).

FIG. 8B shows details of an exemplary control procedure at step S31shown in FIG. 8A. First, a gate bias voltage V_(GB1) for the transistor33A is set at step S311. At step S312, the detector 42 measures thepower of the main wave component and the powers of the upper and lowerout-of-band distortion components of output from the feedforwardamplifier 200 and calculates the ratio (ACLR) between the power of eachof the upper and lower out-of-band distortion components and the powerof the main wave component. At step S313, the controller 43 determineswhether both of the ACLRs are less than or equal to the standard value.If at least one of the ACLRs exceeds the standard value, the processreturns to step S311, where the set gate bias voltage is changed andsteps S311 and S312 are repeated. In doing this, the gate bias voltageV_(GB2) is held constant.

When the ACLRs decrease to the standard value or below, the powermeasuring part 44 measures the output power and supply power of thefeedforward amplifier 200 at step S314. At step S315, the controller 43calculates the power efficiency of the feedforward amplifier 200 on thebasis of the output power and the supply power of the feedforwardamplifier 200. At step S316, the controller 43 determines whether thepower efficiency is less than the previously calculated powerefficiency. If the newly obtained power efficiency is less than theprevious power efficiencies, the controller 43 returns to step S311 andre-sets the gate bias voltage V_(GB1). Establishment of the maximumvalue at step S316 is performed as follows by using the power efficiencyof the feedforward amplifier 200 calculated at step S315. If the outputpower of the feedforward amplifier 200 is not under transmission powercontrol, the highest value in a time period of the order of one hour isset; if the output power is under transmission power control, thehighest value in a time period until the transmission power is changedis set. In this way, steps S311 to S316 are repeated until the powerefficiency of the feedforward amplifier 200 becomes maximum, therebycontrolling the gate bias voltage V_(GB1).

The steepest descent method or LMS (least-mean-square) algorithm can beused as an algorithm for controlling the gate bias voltage V_(GB1) underthe condition that voltage variation is constant. Alternatively, controlof changing the voltage variation as needed may be allowed. After thepower efficiency of the feedforward amplifier 200 is maximized bycontrolling the gate bias voltage V_(GB1), the gate bias voltage V_(GB2)is controlled at step S32 shown in FIG. 8A while maintaining the gatebias voltage V_(GB1). The control of the gate bias voltage V_(GB2) isperformed in the same way the gate bias voltage V_(GB1) is controlled asshown in FIG. 8B. Control of gate bias voltages V_(GB1) and V_(GB2) atsteps S31 and S32 are repeated until it is determined at step S33 ofFIG. 8A that the power efficacy of the feedforward amplifier 200 is thehighest in the time period described above.

Drain bias voltage control is performed by following the same procedureshown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. The term “gate bias voltage” in the controlprocedure shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B can be simply replaced with the term“drain bias voltage”. By changing control voltages being provided to thecontrol terminals T_(DCA) and T_(DCB) of the drain bias setting circuits38A and 38B, the drain bias voltages that maximize the power efficiencyof the feedforward amplifier 200 are searched for and set by followingthe same procedure shown in the flowchart of the gate bias voltagecontrol described above. The gate bias voltage control and the drainbias voltage control may be alternately repeated. Alternatively, onlyone of the gate bias voltage and the drain bias voltage may becontrolled. If the output power of the feedforward amplifier 200 ischanged after completion of the setting of the gate and drain biasvoltages, loop adjustments of the vector adjusters 12 and 22 areperformed while maintaining the set bias voltages. After the completionof the setting of the vector adjusters 12 and 22, the controller 43re-sets the gate and drain bias voltages.

Second Embodiment

An embodiment for further improving the power efficiency of afeedforward amplifier after the completion of the control of gate anddrain bias voltages of an HRA 130 according to the first embodiment willbe described. FIG. 9 shows a feedforward amplifier 300 of a secondembodiment in the invention. Unlike the feedforward amplifier 200described above, the feedforward amplifier 300 has a directional coupler45 provided on the input side of a vector adjuster 22 in a distortioninjection path P_(DI) for the purpose of making adjustments for thevector adjusters 12 and 22 of a signal cancellation circuit 10 and adistortion eliminating circuit 20. A switch 46 selects one of signalsfrom the directional couplers 41 and 45 to provide the signal to adetector 42.

A controller 43 controls a variable attenuator 12A and a variable phaseshifter 12B of the signal cancellation circuit 10 and a variableattenuator 22A and a variable phase shifter 22B of the distortioneliminating circuit 20. In the second embodiment, the controller 43further controls adaptively the variable attenuators and phase shiftersof the signal cancellation circuit 10 and the distortion eliminatingcircuit 20 after completion of the same gate bias voltage control asthat of the first embodiment. The adaptive control will be describedwith reference to the flowchart of FIG. 10.

Vector adjustment of the signal cancellation circuit 10 (step S1),vector adjustment of the distortion eliminating circuit 20 (step S2),and gate bias voltage setting control (step S3) are performed first inthe same way as that in the first embodiment. In the second embodiment,at step S4 that follows step S3, the detector 42 detects a main wavecomponent in an output from the signal cancellation circuit 10 and anout-of-band distortion component generated by the HRA 130 from a signalextracted by the directional coupler 45 selected by the switch 46. Thecontroller 43 controls the variable attenuator 12A and variable phaseshifter 12B of the vector adjuster 12 in the signal cancellation circuit10 to make the main wave component uniform and minimum. The reason whythe main wave component is to be made uniform is that the out-of-banddistortion components are suppressed in the distortion eliminatingcircuit 20 and the main wave components are summed. If the suppressionof the main wave components has a frequency characteristic, that is, ifthe main wave components are not uniformly suppressed, the powercombiner 24 cannot uniformly add the main wave components.

At step S5, the detector 42 detects an out-of-band distortion componentfrom a signal extracted by the directional coupler 41 in accordance withselection of the switch 46. Then, the controller 43 controls thevariable phase shifter 12B of the signal cancellation circuit 10 so asto reduce the power of the out-of-band distortion component to aminimum. At step S6, the detector 42 further detects an out-of-banddistortion component from the signal extracted by the directionalcoupler 41 in accordance with the selection of the switch 46. Thecontroller 43 controls the variable attenuator 22A of the distortioneliminating circuit 20 so as to reduce the power of the out-of-banddistortion component to a minimum. At step S7, the detector 42 detectsan out-of-band distortion component in the signal extracted by thedirectional coupler 41 in accordance with the selection of the switch46. The controller 43 controls the variable phase shifter 22B of thedistortion eliminating circuit 20 so as to reduce the power of theout-of-band distortion component to a minimum.

The controls at steps S5, S6, and S7 adjust the variable attenuator 22Aand variable phase shifter 22B of the distortion eliminating circuit 20so that a phase of the out-of-band distortion component in thedistortion injection path P_(DI) in the distortion eliminating circuit20 is opposite to that of the out-of-band distortion component in themain amplifier output transfer path P_(MT). The controls also adjust thevariable phase shifter 12B of the signal cancellation circuit 10 and thevariable attenuator 22A and variable phase shifter 22B of the distortioneliminating circuit 20 so that a phase of the main wave component in thedistortion injection path P_(DI) is the same as that of the main wavecomponent in the main amplifier output transfer path P_(MT). As aresult, the out-of-band distortion components are suppressed while themain wave components are increased.

By controlling the variable attenuators and variable phase shifters ofthe signal cancellation circuit 10 and the distortion eliminatingcircuit 20 as described above, the power efficiency of the feedforwardamplifier 300 can be maximized while keeping the ACLRs below thestandard value. The controller 43 repeats the adjustment of the variablephase shifter 12B of the signal cancellation circuit 10 (step S5), theadjustment of the variable attenuator 22A of the distortion eliminatingcircuit 20 (step S6), and the adjustment of the variable phase shifter22B (step S7) in this order a predetermined number of times. By thisiterative adjustment, the output power of the feedforward amplifier 300can be increased while compensating for distortions. Furthermore, thepower efficiency of the feedforward amplifier 300 can be increasedbecause the powers of the main wave components are summed by the powercombiner 24. The variable attenuator 12A of the signal cancellationcircuit 10 is not iteratively controlled because the iterative controlwould vary the gain of the feedforward amplifier 300.

The series of controls adapts to temperature changes and deteriorationof the feedforward amplifier 300 over time. When the HRA, which is themain amplifier, operates in a low back-off region, the series ofcontrols can maximize the power efficiency of the feedforward amplifierwhile maintaining the power of out-of-band distortions at a constantvalue or below.

Third Embodiment

In a forward amplifier 400 shown in FIG. 11, pilot signals are used toperform control of adjustments of vector adjusters 12 and 22 of a signalcancellation circuit 10 and a distortion eliminating circuit 20 whichare the same as those in the feedforward amplifier 300 shown in FIG. 9.The feedforward amplifier 400 further includes a directional coupler 8provided on the input side of a divider 11, a directional coupler 17provided between a preamplifier 13P and an HRA 130, a first pilot signalgenerator 9, and a second pilot signal generator 18, in addition to thecomponents of the feedforward amplifier 300. The first pilot signalgenerator 9 generates a first pilot signal S_(P1) which is a set of twoCW waves with a frequency spacing of approximately 1 kHz at a centerfrequency sufficiently spaced apart from a main wave component. However,the center frequency of the first pilot signal S_(P1) is in the samefrequency band that of the main wave component belongs to. The secondpilot signal generator 18 generates a second pilot signal S_(P2) whichis a set of two CW waves with a frequency spacing of approximately 1 kHzat a center frequency different from that of the first pilot signal. Thecenter frequency of the second pilot signal S_(P2) is in the samefrequency band that of the main wave component belongs to. The firstpilot signal S_(P1) generated by the first pilot signal generator 9 isinjected in the divider 11 through the directional coupler 8. The secondpilot signal S_(P2) generated by the second pilot signal generator 18 isinjected in a main amplifier path P_(MA) through the directional coupler17. The pilot signals S_(P1) and S_(P2) are used for loop adjustment ofthe signal cancellation circuit 10 and the distortion eliminatingcircuit 20.

In particular, a directional coupler 45 extracts the first pilot signalS_(P1) and a detector 42 detects the first pilot signal S_(P1). Acontroller 43 adjusts a variable attenuator 12A and a variable phaseshifter 12B of the vector adjuster 12 so as to reduce the detected firstpilot signal S_(P1) to a minimum. Similarly, a distortion componentgenerated by the HRA 130 due to the injection of the second pilot signalS_(P2) into the main amplifier path P_(MA) through the directionalcoupler 17 is detected by the detector 42 from the signal extracted by adirectional coupler 41. The controller 43 adjusts a variable attenuator22A and a variable phase shifter 22B of the vector adjuster 22 so as toreduce the detected distortion component to a minimum.

Experimental Results

FIG. 12 shows results of an experiment on the feedforward amplifier 300shown in FIG. 9. One W-CDMA wave with a center frequency of 2.14 GHz wasused as an input signal for measurement conditions. In the initialstate, gate bias voltages V_(GB1) and V_(GB2) were set such that draincurrents of the two transistors 33A and 33B in the HRA 130 match eachother. Then the gate bias voltages were changed to change the differencebetween the two drain currents and the ACLRs at offsets of 5 MHz and 10MHz with respect to the current difference and the power efficiency ofthe feedforward amplifier 300 were measured. In control procedure, thevector adjusters 12 and 22 of the signal cancellation circuit 10 and thedistortion eliminating circuit 20 were adjusted and gate bias voltageswere controlled according to the procedure shown in FIG. 8.

As shown in FIG. 12, when the gate bias voltages are adjusted so thatthe drain current difference changes from a reference value (a draincurrent difference of 0 mA) to −50 mA, the power efficiency is improvedby 0.7%. With the power efficiency improvement, the ACLR at an offset of5 MHz degrades by 5 dB and the ACLR at an offset of 10 MHz degrades by 6dB. These degradations can be compensated for by performing loopadjustments of the signal cancellation circuit 10 and the distortioneliminating circuit 20. When further loop adjustment of the signalcancellation circuit 10 and the distortion eliminating circuit 20 is notperformed, the ACLR at an offset of 5 MHz was improved by −45 dBc andthe power efficiency is improved by 0.3% by setting the drain currentdifference to 30 mA. Thus, the power efficiency can be improved by 0.3to 0.7% by changing the gate bias voltages setting in the HRA 130.

FIG. 13A shows the ACLR characteristic of the feedforward amplifier 300.Shown in FIG. 13A are measurements obtained by adjusting gate biasvoltages to reduce the difference between the two drain currents shownin FIG. 12 to 0. FIG. 13A shows ACLRs at offsets of 5 MHz and 10 MHz inan output from the HRA 130, which is the main amplifier, and an outputfrom the feedforward amplifier. The amount of distortion compensation is13 dB at an ACLR of −45 dBc at an offset of 5 MHz. The output power ofthe feedforward amplifier is 38.4 dBm.

FIG. 13B shows power efficiency characteristics corresponding to FIG.13A. The power efficiency of the HRA 130 as the main amplifier and thatof the feedforward amplifier are shown. The feedforward amplifier hasachieved a power efficiency of 19.8% at the output power of 38.4 dBm.Since the power efficiencies of conventional feedforward amplifiers are15% and below, it can be seen that the feedforward amplifier accordingto the present invention is highly efficient.

As has been described above, according to the present invention, thepower efficiency of the feedforward amplifier can be improved and thepower consumption can be reduced. Consequently, the accompanying heatcan be reduced, permitting the use of a smaller heatsink. Thus, size andweight reduction of the feedforward amplifier can be achieved.

1. A feedforward amplifier, comprising: a divider configured todistribute an input signal into a main amplifier path and a lineartransfer path, the main amplifier path including a main amplifier whichis a harmonic reaction amplifier; a combiner/divider configured tocombine an output signal of the main amplifier path and an output signalof the liner transfer path to generate a signal input to a mainamplifier output transfer path and a signal input to a distortioninjection path including an auxiliary amplifier; and a power combinerconfigured to combine an output signal of the main amplifier outputtransfer path and an output signal of the distortion injection path andthereby outputting an output signal; a first directional couplerconfigured to extract a part of the output signal of the power combiner;a detector configured to detect, from the signal extracted by the firstdirectional coupler, a main wave component which is the input signalinput in the feedforward amplifier and upper and lower out-of-banddistortion components generated by the main amplifier; a power measuringpart configured to measure an output power of the feedforward amplifierand supply power to the feedforward amplifier; and a controllerconfigured to control an operating point of the harmonic reactionamplifier to maximize power efficiency calculated from the output powerand the supply power under a condition that an adjacent channel leakagepower ratio calculated from the detected main wave component and thedetected upper and lower out-of-band distortion components are lowerthan or equal to a predetermined reference value.
 2. The feedforwardamplifier according to claim 1, wherein the harmonic reaction amplifierfurther comprises: a second divider configured to divide a signal inputin the harmonic reaction amplifier into two; a first transistor having agate to which one of the two signals distributed is provided andamplifying power; a second transistor having a gate to which the otherof the two signals distributed is provided and amplifying power; asecond-order harmonic termination circuit configured to terminate secondharmonics between outputs of the first and second transistors; a secondpower combiner configured to combine the powers of the twosecond-harmonic terminated signals to generate an output of the harmonicreaction amplifier; and first and second gate bias setting circuitsconfigured to set, respectively, a gate bias voltage of the firsttransistor and a gate bias voltage of the second transistor inaccordance with control by the controller.
 3. The feedforward amplifieraccording to claim 2, wherein the harmonic reaction amplifier furthercomprises: first and second drain bias setting circuits configured toset, respectively, a drain bias voltage of the first transistor and adrain bias voltage of the second transistor in accordance with controlby the controller.
 4. The feedforward amplifier according to any one ofclaims 1, 2 and 3, further comprising: a first vector adjuster providedat the input side of the harmonic reaction amplifier in the mainamplifier path; a second vector adjuster provided on the input side ofthe auxiliary amplifier in the distortion injection path; and a seconddirectional coupler provided on the input side of the second vectoradjuster and configured to extract a part of a signal in the distortioninjection path; wherein the controller is configured to adjust theamount of attenuation and the amount of phase shift by the first vectoradjuster to make the main wave component uniform and minimum on thebasis of the signal extracted by the second directional coupler and isconfigured to adjust the amount of phase shift by the first vectoradjuster and the amount of attenuation and the amount of phase shift bythe second vector adjuster to minimize the power of the upper and lowerout-of-band distortion components on the basis of the signal extractedby the first directional coupler.
 5. A method for controlling afeedforward amplifier, the feedforward amplifier including a dividerconfigured to distribute an input signal into a main amplifier path anda linear transfer path, the main amplifier path including a harmonicreaction amplifier as a main amplifier, a combiner/divider configured tocombine an output signal of the main amplifier path and an output signalof the linear transfer path to generate a signal input to a mainamplifier output transfer path and a signal input to a distortioninjection path including an auxiliary amplifier, a power combinerconfigured to combine an output signal of the main amplifier outputtransfer path and an output signal of the distortion injection path andthereby outputting an output signal, a first directional couplerconfigured to extract a part of the output signal of the power combiner,and a controller configured to control an operating point of theharmonic reaction amplifier on the basis of the signal extracted by thefirst directional coupler, the harmonic reaction amplifier including asecond divider configured to divide a signal input in the harmonicreaction amplifier into two, a first transistor having a gate to whichone of the two signals distributed is provided and configured to amplifypower, a second transistor having a gate to which the other of the twosignals distributed is provided and configured to amplify power, asecond-order harmonic termination circuit configured to terminate secondharmonics between outputs of the first and second transistors, a secondpower combiner configured to combine the powers of the twosecond-harmonic terminated signals to generate an output of the harmonicreaction amplifier, and two gate bias setting circuits configured to seta gate bias voltage of the first transistor and a gate bias voltage ofthe second transistor in accordance with control by the controller, thecontrol method comprising the step of: detecting from the output signalof the feedforward amplifier a main wave component which is the inputsignal input in the feedforward amplifier and an out-of-band distortioncomponent generated by the main amplifier and alternately controllinggate bias voltages of the first and second transistors of the harmonicreaction amplifier to maximize power efficiency of the feedforwardamplifier under the condition that an adjacent channel leakage powerratio calculated from the main wave component and the out-of-banddistortion component is a predetermined reference value or below.
 6. Themethod according to claim 5, wherein the harmonic reaction amplifierfurther includes first and second drain bias setting circuits configuredto set drain bias voltages of the first and second transistors accordingto control by the controller; the method further comprising the step of:detecting the main wave component and the out-of-band distortioncomponent and alternately controlling the drain bias voltages of thefirst and second transistors of the harmonic reaction amplifier tomaximize the power efficiency of the feedforward amplifier under thecondition that an adjacent channel leakage power ratio calculated fromthe main wave component and the out-of-band distortion component is lessthan or equal to a predetermined reference value.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 5 or 6, further comprising the steps of: adjustingthe amount of attenuation and the amount of phase shift of a signal inthe main amplifier path to make a main wave component in a signal outputfrom the combiner/divider to the distortion injection path uniform andminimum; adjusting the amount of phase shift of the signal in the mainamplifier path to minimize the power of the out-of-band distortioncomponent; adjusting the amount of attenuation of the signal in thedistortion injection path to minimize the power of the out-of-banddistortion component; adjusting the amount of phase shift of the signalin the distortion injection path to minimize the power of theout-of-band distortion component; and repeating the step of adjustingthe amount of phase shift of the signal in the main amplifier path, thestep of adjusting the amount of attenuation of the signal, and the stepof adjusting the amount of phase shift of the signal in the distortioninjection path, in turn, a plurality of times.